1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to network systems, and more particularly, to processing network information (i.e. frames/packet).
2. Background of the Invention
Network systems are commonly used to move network information (may also be referred to interchangeably, as frames/packets/commands) between computing systems (for example, servers) and network devices (for example, storage systems). Various hardware/software components are used to implement network communication, including network switches.
A network switch is typically a multi-port device where each port manages a point-to-point connection between itself and its attached system. Each port can be attached to a server, peripheral, input/output subsystem, bridge, hub, router, or even another switch. A switch receives messages from one port and routes it to another port.
Typically, when a switch receives a data packet at a receive port, it parses the packet and then routes it via a crossbar and transmit port. The receive port/transmit port are attached to physical links, which may be copper, optical or any other media. The rate at which the physical links can receive or transmit data (also referred to as link-rate) may vary. For example, link-rates may be 1 gigabits per second (may be referred to as “1G” or “Gbps”), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, 8G, 10G or any other rate.
If the link-rate of a switch transmit (egress) port is faster than the link rate of a receive (ingress) port, data packets may get backed up in a receive buffer. The transmit port may have to wait until a portion of the packet is received before transmitting the packet. For example, if a receive port receives packets at a link-rate of 1G and a transmit port transmits at a link-rate of 2G, the transmit port has to wait until half of the incoming packet is received before it can transmit any part of that packet. This may increase latency and result in overall performance degradation.
Therefore, there is a need to efficiently process network information with reduced latency.